Phil Eck and Perry Farrell were mythical creatures to me as a teen. I used to doodle their names on the toes of my converse. I met Phil Eck at a bar in Seattle a few years ago and turned bright red in the cheeks and didn't say a damned thing for an entire hour because I was so nervous.

In preparing to move, I've been importing all my CDs into my ipod over the last few months and have been enjoying some nineties alternative jams--makes me wish I had some violet manic panic in my hair while writing this. I've been itching to cover this fruitful genre of music, and am kind of mad at Pitchfork for saying that there wasn't much green about the indie rock scene, so I was excited to see that Lollapalooza is stepping it up a notch in their greening efforts this year. I might just doodle Perry's name on my kicks right now!

It seems that they have partnered with Green Mountain, who is, in my mind, doing some of the most interesting projects in greening the music industry. I really like it when festivals offset the emissions associated with running the festival, but also offer ways fans can get involved.

Similar to the principle used when I ordered my zen-ned out alarm clock (which is awesome by the way), concert goers can offset the emissions associated with their travel right when they buy their tickets. A $4 Lollapalooza BeGreen (sm)Fan Tag will neutralize your impact. Four bucks, c'mon! I'll even give you the proceeds of the Yo La Tengo CD I just sold at Amoeba if you do it.

If you're planning to go to Lollapalooza, find out more about BeGreen Fan Tags here.

Labels: festival, Green Mountain, indie, Lollapalooza

Encore recently posted an article on the greening measures behind Live Earth. Since the visions of the private chartered jets flying the artists around and the lighting at Giants stadium seem to be the proverbial pill in all the jam (pun intended, wah,wah,wah,wah), I thought it would be timely to show you all the measures that went behind making the event as green as the cause behind it.

Live Earth Leaves Green Legacy At Concert Venues Worldwide

Posted: June 27, 2007

LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess) -- In an effort to implement a more sustainable event production model, members of the Live Earth Green Team will provide global concert venues with the tools and guidelines necessary to continue environmentally conscious activities after the event itself is over. This legacy initiative is just one component of the Live Earth commitment to inspiring over two billion people worldwide to make smarter decisions to lead a more energy efficient lifestyle.

Despite various cultural, venue and logistical challenges, the Live Earth Green Team is taking thoughtful steps towards ensuring that the environmental impact of the eight official concerts worldwide is significantly minimized. From waste management programs activated at each venue to transportation solutions aimed at reducing concertgoers’ travel emissions, the stage is set for Live Earth to be a major catalyst of a global movement aimed at creating change.

"Live Earth is about engaging a global audience with solutions to the climate crisis, and providing these legendary venues with the knowledge that will allow them to continue their environmental contributions, " said John Rego, environmental director, Live Earth and a senior consultant for Brand Neutral. "Improving sustainability is a long-term goal and we are proud to be contributing to a greener future for these cities."

In addition to recycling or composting plastic bottles and containers on-site at all locations, the Live Earth venues will optimize lighting to reduce energy consumption and exchange inefficient bulbs for efficient ones. A combination of solar, wind and biofuel generated power will be sourced to power all energy sources including lighting, air circulation, musical equipment and amplifiers. Effective waste management is another essential component of the venue greening, and Live Earth has introduced a variety of ways to reduce the garbage produced by the shows.

Specifically, Giants Stadium will instate a triple-stream system, likely its first in its 30-year history which combines waste, compost and recycling and aims to more than double the diversion rate of materials that will avoid landfills on the day of the show. In an effort to reduce waste generated at the concert, official partner, Pepsi Co. estimates it will recycle more than 200,000 bottles and cans – preventing at least 10 tons of waste from going to landfills and saving enough electricity to power 5,110 homes for a 24 hour period -- the same amount of time concerts will last. In addition, a partnership with web-based invitation provider Evite will offer Live Earth ticket holders the resources to meet up with friends and organize carpools to and from the concert. Biodegradable tableware provided by Aramark will be used for food and beverage services, and any signage present in the venue will be made from bio-material that will eventually be composted or reused.

In London, several environmental education programs are in place to support Wembley Stadium progress to become a greener venue. On June 28, Wembley plans to brief members of its management team about the environmental initiatives already underway as well as advise them of all of the green changes to come. On-site generators are currently being tested to run on 99 percent biodiesel on July 7 while all aluminum cans collected from the Live Earth event will be recycled and a payment of .025 pence will be aggregated and donated to local nonprofits, which is a system Wembley stadium put in place earlier this year. Wembley long term goals even include plans to recycle used chewing gum to help resurface children’s playgrounds long after Live Earth.

Live Earth staff has managed to reduce the impact of affiliated transportation surrounding the shows as well. Concessionaires in many locations will source food locally, wherever available to cut down on vehicle emissions from trucking. The largest source of emissions, the travel of concert goers, is being reduced by an upcoming education outreach that provides individuals information about and encouragement to use public transportation and carpool to reduce harmful air pollutants. To further offset the carbon produced by the shows, Live Earth will purchase enough carbon credits to zero out the carbon emissions created by the overall event. While each Live Earth venue will have a variety of green initiatives it is activating, the events as a whole aim to demonstrate a collective effort to instill green practices in the everyday lives of individuals.

Twenty-four hours of music across seven continents will deliver a worldwide call to action and the solutions necessary to answer that call. Live Earth marks the beginning of a multi-year campaign to drive individuals, corporations and governments to take action to solve the climate crisis. Live Earth is partnering with the Alliance for Climate Protection, The Climate Group, Stop Climate Chaos and other international organizations in this ongoing effort. Live Earth was founded by Kevin Wall, a worldwide executive producer of the Live 8 concert series in 2005, and is supported by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore.

smart is the only automaker serving as an Official Partner. Unlike any other vehicle, the new smart fortwo combines a modern, individual lifestyle with environmental protection by setting the standard in urban mobility and offering the lowest CO2 emission of any vehicle on the market. smart responds to environmental demands with innovative, technologically sound solutions and as a result produces positive and credible answers to the question of ecological driving.

Philips, as the leading lighting supplier in the world, joins Live Earth as an Official Partner. Philips was the first to introduce the energy saving light bulb in 1980 and has put environmental product improvement at the heart of its business with its EcoDesign program since 1994, increasing its green product range year by year.

Live Earth is partnering with companies on a local level who share the commitment to helping people live a more energy efficient lifestyle. PepsiCo, an Official Partner of Live Earth, is committed to making a difference with eco-friendlier packaging, energy and water conservation and waste reduction. It’s all part of the PepsiCo commitment to Performance with Purpose -- to do better by doing better.

Esurance, the direct-to-consumer personal auto insurance company, joins Live Earth as an Official Sponsor and is the latest extension of Esurance efforts to conserve energy and preserve the planet's precious resources. For more than seven years, Esurance policyholders have helped save thousands of trees by buying their auto insurance online and using electronic documents.

The Absolut Spirits Company, an official Live Earth partner, is working to reduce its carbon dioxide impact by focusing on sustainable agriculture, reducing impact on climate change and optimizing use of natural resources as mandated by V&S Group, the parent company of Absolut Vodka and one of the leading international spirits companies. --Bob Grossweiner and Jane Cohen

Labels: Al Gore, festival, Live Earth

While you're soaking up the tunes at Wakarusa, spend some time at this year's Sustainability Symposium, too. Wakarusa has teamed up with the Bonneville Environmental Foundation or BEF (the folks that helped Sub Pop and Kelley Stoltz green up) and New Belgium Brewery to educate concert-goers about sustainability.

From the Bonneville Environmental Foundation: The key theme of this year’s symposium is the conservation and production of energy. Friday evening, June 8th, Jeff Goodell, author of Big Coal, will take center stage to address coal-fired energy. Saturday morning will feature additional speakers including Wes Jackson of The Land Institute, followed by a panel discussion addressing the issues of energy and related environmental impacts including climate change. Additional speakers include Nic Thiesen of the New Belgium Brewing Company, and Pete Ferrell, a fourth generation Kansas rancher whose land hosts wind turbines.

Along with using biodiesel-powered generators to power the sound stages, Wakarusa offset the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the festival with BEF Zephyr Energy Green Tags. This measure furthers the green initiatives Wakarusa has had in place in the past. Strong recycling programs and waste reduction methods like providing incentives for concert-goers to reuse cups have been in place for some time.

The Sustainability Symposium will take place Friday night and Saturday during the day. Check it out! More information is here.

Labels: Bonneville Environmental Foundation, fan resources, festival, renewables, sarah, Wakarusa

OK. As a tribute to one of my The Village Green Preservation Society (Hot Fuzz) by The Kinks"top ten favorite albums of all time, I had to repost this festival! It is going on May 24-25th.

From creativematch.com:

Visit London will be kicking off its “Village London” campaign by covering Trafalgar Square with 2,000 square feet of green turf on 24-25 May, transforming one of London’s most iconic attractions into “London’s village green”.

A leading global city, London can also claim to be a diverse collection of villages and one of the greenest capitals in the world. During the two-day event people will be able to take advantage of the green space to have a picnic or just soak up the atmosphere and relax in a deck chair.

A new section on Visit London’s website at www.visitlondon.com/villages will be dedicated to London villages. Visit London will also be producing 500,000 printed guides in association with Time Out. These will be distributed with Time Out and the Evening Standard as well as in Tourist Information Centres and through face-to-face distribution. There will also be outdoor advertising in London and South East England.

Visit London’s Chief Executive, James Bidwell, said: “From the rural feel of areas like Bexley Village and Wimbledon, to urban villages like Marylebone and even Canary Wharf, the campaign will help everyone discover Village London.”

After the event the turf, which will come from a sustainable source in the Vale of York, will be transferred to Bishops Park in Hammersmith and Fulham, where it will be planted beneath an avenue of majestic plane trees close to the River Thames and Fulham Palace.

Global Cool, the celebrity backed climate change campaign, will be working with Visit London to make the Trafalgar Square village green carbon neutral. Global Cool will advise Visit London on how to reduce the event’s carbon footprint before offsetting any remaining emissions.


www.visitlondon.com

Labels: carbon neutral, festival, Global Cool, London